‘He had instructed us(1) not to sift his food for him.’ He asked, ‘What did you say to her?’ I told him.”

Suwayd said(2): “May my father and mother be sacrificed for the man whose food was never sifted for him and who, until Allah—Mighty and Majestic—took him, never ate his fill of wheat bread for three days in succession. One day he bought two coarse garments and gave Qanbar his choice between them. Qanbar took one, while he himself wore the other. When he found that the sleeve extended beyond his fingers, he cut off the excess.”

Dirār ibn Damrah said: “After the Commander of the Faithful, Alī(3), was killed, I went in to see Muāwiyah. He said, ‘Describe Alī to me.’ I replied, ‘Spare me.’ He said, ‘There is no avoiding it(4).’ So I said(5), ‘Since it cannot be avoided, then by Allah, he was a man of far-reaching vision and formidable strength. His words were decisive and his judgments just. Knowledge flowed from every side of him, and wisdom spoke from his every quarter. He felt estranged from this world and its adornments, yet found companionship(6) in the night and its solitude. By Allah(7), his tears flowed freely and his contemplation was long. He favored(8) coarse clothing and plain fare. Among us he was just like one of us: he would answer us when we asked him and come to us(9) when we called him; and yet we—